Humber Arboretum Business Plan 2018-19

HUMBER RIVER WATERSHED
history, place &
tri-partnership
Centre for Urban Ecology (CUE)
The Centre for Urban Ecology (CUE) is home to the Arboretum’s
educational programs, adult continuing education, camps, community
workshops, and special events. The building is LEED Gold certified,
demonstrating outstanding Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design. The CUE’s sustainable building features include a green roof,
rainwater collection system, solar awning, and radiant floor heating.
Purpose
Humber Arboretum's
purpose is to:
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• Establish and maintain
a comprehensive, aesthetically
pleasing collection of woody
and herbaceous plants;
• Demonstrate correct arbori-
cultural and horticultural
techniques through responsible
development and maintenance
practices;
• Protect natural areas through
appropriate conservation and
restoration practices;
• Facilitate a range of educational
and research opportunities in
arboriculture and horticulture
and environmental studies;
• Establish and promote the
Humber Arboretum as a
resource that is an integral
part of the Greater Toronto
community and an attraction
for national and international
visitors;
• Establish, maintain, and
encourage wildlife habitat, and;
• Create and maintain a Centre
for Urban Ecology that will
serve as a gathering point,
with functional laboratory
and classroom facilities.
The 105 hectare Humber Arboretum is located in Adobigok (Place of the
Alders in the Ojibwe Language). It is situated along the west bend of the
Humber River, a Canadian Heritage River 2 . The Humber River watershed
spans 903 square kilometres, from the headwaters on the Niagara
Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine down through to the river mouth on
Lake Ontario. The watershed historically provided an integral connection
for aboriginal peoples between Ontario’s lakeshore and the Lake Simcoe–
Georgian Bay region. This area is known as the traditional territory of the
Ojibwe Anishnabe aboriginal people and includes several First Nations
communities.
In 1972, horticultural students from Humber College asked to use the
land beside the College’s north campus as a space for experiential
learning. This ultimately led to the creation of the Humber Arboretum
in 1977 as a joint venture between Humber College, Toronto and Region
Conservation, and the City of Toronto 3 . This unique partnership has
created an equally unique organization with the strength of diverse skills,
talents, and knowledge.
Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA) owns most of the Arboretum
land and provides environmental expertise and leadership; the City of
Toronto’s Parks, Forestry, and Recreation division provides operational
funding and in–kind services in forestry and horticulture; Humber College
owns and operates the venues and structures, offers administrative and
operational oversight, and provides day–to–day staff management.
The Humber Arboretum’s Tripartite Agreement provides specifications
for strategic leadership and management. The Agreement stipulates that
each of the Humber Arboretum’s three partners must appoint a member
of senior staff to make up a Management Committee. The Management
Committee is responsible for developing overall policies, strategies,
and protocols to ensure that the Arboretum’s purpose is achieved and
maintained. Humber College provides a Director of the Arboretum to
serve as the day–to–day contact and provide ongoing oversight.
Today the Humber Arboretum is integrated with Humber College’s central
campus in Ward One, Etobicoke North. Its learning gardens sit at the foot
of the College’s student residences.
2
This designation recognizes the Humber River's contribution to the development of the country and its
importance in the history of First Nations peoples and early Euro–Canadian explorers and settlers of Upper Canada.
3
The original partnership also included the City of Etobicoke, however, since then the City of Etobicoke has been
amalgamated with the City of Toronto.
Life Zone and Ravine System
The Humber Arboretum is located within the Carolinian Life Zone 4 .
This is Canada’s most biodiverse ecological region, providing habitat
for approximately 50% of Canada’s birds, 40% of Canada’s native plants,
and 66% of our reptiles. Some 2,200 species of herbaceous plants and
70 species of trees are found in this zone 5 .
It is also Ontario’s most threatened ecological region. The Carolinian Life
Zone encompasses six ecodistricts and the Humber Arboretum classified
within ecodistrict 7E–4. Under 6% of this ecodistrict remains as natural
forest cover, less than 0.5% is wetland, and its native prairie has been
almost entirely destroyed 6 .
Over 65% of the Humber Arboretum is located within Toronto’s 45,000–
acre ravine system, a vast interconnected array of forests, rivers and lush
green spaces. This system is gaining increasing international notoriety as
being an iconic landscape feature of Toronto. In 2017, Toronto mayor John
Tory called Toronto's ravines the "physical soul" of the city.
Meadows and Wetlands
Part of the Humber Arboretum is native meadow. This area is home to
a diverse array of flora and pollinator species. Tucked away in the meadow
is a collection of beehives which have for over two decades provided
delicious small batch honey and served as a point of interest for visiting
students and tour groups. Some of the Arboretum’s meadows were
historically wet meadows — a type of wetland with soils that are saturated
for part or all of the growing season. In recent years, TRCA has been
restoring these wetland features to improve water treatment, clean
and slow storm water and floods, and enhance wildlife habitat.
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CZ; Ecoregion 7E.
5
Source: Carolinian Canada
6
Carolinian Canada and Province of Ontario. (2017). List of the Vascular Plants of Ontario’s
Carolinian Zone (Ecoregion 7E). (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Oldham7/publication/
317731067_List_of_the_Vascular_Plants_of_Ontario's_Carolinian_Zone_Ecoregion_7E/links/
594b0567aca2723195de8ac8/List-of-the-Vascular-Plants-of-Ontarios-Carolinian-Zone-Ecoregion-7E.pdf)
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